A capstone course for Klein College students pursuing a degree in public relations recently offered students the opportunity to understand and practice their skills by , creating a campaign for With Purpose, an organization dedicated to raising money to fight pediatric cancer. The campaign was entered in the Bateman Competition, a national competition asking students to create campaigns for clients. Although the team didn’t win, it still accomplished a great deal.
The capstone course team included five Klein College students, Marissa Reale, KLN ‘18, Mary Strehl, KLN, ‘18, Jenny Lynch, KLN ‘18, Terra Kliwinski, KLN ‘18 and Kacie Ricciotti, KLN, ‘18, and gained media coverage and attention from outlets around the city. They hosted a Play With Purpose day to spread awareness about pediatric cancer at Smith Memorial Playground, where families gathered and played together.
The With Purpose organization invites college campuses to create chapters and, with the attention the team’s With Purpose campaign received, Reale hoped the message would resonate enough with students enough to start its own.
After volunteering at Play With Purpose, Gabrielle Arias, KLN ‘20, was inspired to do just that. At a recent PRSSA town hall meeting, Arias announced her initiation of the Temple With Purpose chapter along with her plans to grow the organization.
“I want to definitely carry on Play With Purpose and have that become an annual thing,” Arias said.
David Brown, the capstone course professor, will also serve as the new Temple With Purpose chapter as the faculty advisor.
“It wasn’t an initial goal of the team” Brown said. “The Bateman Competition rules said that if you were able to start a chapter, great, but it wasn’t a requirement, so seeing the growth of Temple With Purpose is gratifying.”
Both Arias and Brown found inspiration in the other fundraising organizations on campus including Love Your Melon and Hootathon, and hope students will be inspired to participate in Temple With Purpose as well.
“When [the founders of With Purpose] found out their son had the rare brain cancer, they left everything and decided to live every single day with purpose,” Arias said. “I think that message is so amazing and I want to help carry on that legacy.”